Trellis Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 26, 2026

Molbak’s LLC, doing business as Molbak’s Garden + Home (“Molbak’s,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how we collect, use, disclose, store, and otherwise process personal information when you interact with the Trellis website, application, artificial intelligence-enabled gardening assistant, plant and garden management tools, project-planning features, reminders, recommendations, and related services (collectively, the “Services”).

This Policy applies to:

Visitors to the Trellis website;

Individuals who create an account or subscribe to the Services;

Individuals who participate in beta testing or early-access programs; and

Individuals who contact us, request support, provide feedback, or subscribe to Trellis communications.

This Policy applies specifically to Trellis. Molbak’s separate retail website, stores, and transactions are governed by the privacy notices applicable to those activities. Independent retailers and other third-party websites have their own privacy policies.

The Trellis Terms of Service govern your use of the Services. This Policy describes our personal-information practices and does not limit any privacy rights available to you under applicable law.

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

A. Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you provide when you create or manage an account, subscribe to the Services, select preferences, contact us, participate in beta testing, or otherwise interact with Trellis. This information may include:

Account information: Your name, email address, and information used to register, verify, and access your account.

Location information: The ZIP code and any other location details you provide to personalize gardening recommendations, local weather information, seasonal timing, and nearby store suggestions.

Store preferences: Garden centers you select as favorites and any store referral code or link you use when signing up.

Communication preferences: Your selections concerning gardening emails, reminders, and other communications.

Support and feedback: Messages, support requests, survey responses, interview responses, and other feedback you provide.

Beta and early-access information: Registration details, product interests, and participation preferences.

Subscriptions are processed through Stripe. Payment-card details are collected directly by Stripe, and we do not receive or store your full card number. We receive and retain subscription and payment-related records, such as your selected plan, subscription status, and customer and transaction identifiers.

B. Your Garden Content and Conversations

When you use Trellis, we collect the content you submit and the garden information created through your interactions with the Services (“Your Content”). This may include:

Photographs of plants, gardens, rooms, and other growing spaces;

Plant names and the names or descriptions you assign to spaces and locations;

Notes, preferences, growing conditions, and care history;

Gardening tasks, reminders, calendars, and project plans;

Messages, prompts, questions, and conversations with Trellis; and

Plant identifications, recommendations, and other responses associated with your account.

We retain garden records and conversation history to provide continuity between sessions and personalize future responses. Our retention and deletion practices are described below.

Your photographs and messages may reveal information beyond the plants themselves, such as details about your home, surroundings, or other people. Please do not upload photographs containing identifiable people, particularly children, or submit health information, financial account details, or other sensitive information unnecessary for gardening assistance. If you include such information, it may be stored and processed with the rest of Your Content, including through the AI processing described in this Policy.

C. Information Collected Automatically or Derived Through the Services

When you use Trellis, we collect technical and usage information, including:

IP address;

Browser and device type;

Dates and times of access;

Features used and actions taken;

Technical logs and diagnostic information; and

AI-processing usage associated with your account, including token consumption.

We use this information to operate the Services, troubleshoot problems, maintain security, prevent abuse, and understand usage and operating costs.

We also derive information from the details you provide. For example, we use your ZIP code to determine your city, state, and USDA hardiness zone and to obtain relevant weather and seasonal information. We do not collect precise device GPS location.

We use cookies and similar technologies to recognize your browser or device, authenticate your account, keep you signed in as you navigate the Services, remember your settings and preferences, and support security and fraud prevention. You can manage cookies through your browser settings, although blocking certain cookies may prevent you from signing in or using some features of the Services.

2. HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We use personal information to:

Provide, operate, maintain, and support Trellis;

Process photographs and questions to generate plant identifications, care suggestions, and other responses;

Maintain your plant records, spaces, conversations, care history, and project plans between sessions;

Personalize recommendations using your garden information, preferences, and location;

Provide weather-related guidance, seasonal suggestions, reminders, and nearby store information;

Authenticate users and administer accounts;

Process subscriptions, manage billing, and send account, trial, and renewal notices;

Deliver gardening emails and other communications you request or enable;

Respond to support requests and feedback;

Evaluate response quality, troubleshoot problems, and improve the Services;

Administer beta testing, surveys, and product-feedback activities;

Understand usage and operating costs;

Maintain security and prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access; and

Comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Where reasonably practicable, we use aggregated or de-identified information for analytics and product evaluation instead of identifiable information.

Authorized personnel may review account information, photographs, and conversations when reasonably necessary to provide support, investigate technical or security issues, or evaluate the quality of Trellis’s responses. Access is limited to personnel who need the information for those purposes. During beta testing, this review may be more active and include direct review of participant conversations, photographs, usage, and feedback.

3. AI PROCESSING

Trellis uses third-party AI providers to generate plant identifications, care recommendations, project plans, and other responses. We share your messages, photographs, and relevant garden context with these providers as needed to generate responses. This context may include prior conversations, plant and space records, and location-related information. We may use different providers or models for different features and may change providers over time. Responses associated with your account may be stored with your conversations and garden records to support continuity and personalization.

Our staff may review photographs, conversations, and responses for support, troubleshooting, and quality evaluation as described in Section 2. AI responses may be inaccurate or incomplete; the Terms of Service explain their limitations and applicable safety precautions. Our AI providers process this information subject to contractual restrictions and are not permitted to use it to train their models. Providers may retain and review submitted information for limited security, abuse-prevention, or legal-compliance purposes, subject to their applicable retention periods and access controls.

4. HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

We disclose personal information in the following circumstances:

Service Providers. We share information with providers that help operate Trellis, including hosting and storage providers, authentication services, payment processors, email-delivery services, AI providers, and any weather, mapping, analytics, or support providers that receive personal information. We share information relevant to their functions and require appropriate contractual restrictions and safeguards.

The providers identified in our current configuration include Amazon Web Services for hosting and storage, Amazon Cognito for authentication, Stripe for payments, and Amazon SES for email delivery. AI providers are addressed in Section 3.

At Your Direction. We may disclose information when you request or authorize us to do so.

Legal and Safety Purposes. We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law or legal process, respond to lawful requests, investigate misuse, enforce our agreements, or protect the rights, property, or safety of Molbak’s, users, or others.

Business Transactions. We may disclose information in connection with a proposed or completed merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or part of the business, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections. We will provide notice of an ownership transfer or material change in information practices where required by applicable law.

Retailer Referrals. Selecting a favorite store or using a store’s referral code allows us to record that preference or referral. We do not currently provide retailers with identifiable account information, your garden content, purchasing interests, or referral reports. If that changes, we will update this Policy first and, where applicable law requires it, obtain your consent.

Sale and Targeted Advertising. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use personal information for targeted advertising as those terms are defined under applicable privacy laws. We do not disclose personal information to advertisers or data brokers for those purposes.

5. AGGREGATED AND DE-IDENTIFIED INFORMATION

We may aggregate or de-identify information so that it cannot reasonably be used to identify you. We may use that information to understand usage, evaluate response quality, conduct research, and improve the Services. We maintain de-identified information in de-identified form and do not attempt to reidentify it, except as permitted by applicable law to evaluate our de-identification methods. If we disclose de-identified information to others, we require appropriate restrictions against reidentification. Removing a name or email address alone does not necessarily de-identify a photograph, conversation, or garden record. Information that remains reasonably linkable to you continues to be treated as personal information under this Policy.

6. DATA SECURITY

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or loss. Access to personal information is limited to authorized personnel and service providers who need it for the purposes described in this Policy. No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a security incident requires notification under applicable law, we will provide the required notices.

7. DATA RETENTION AND DELETION

We retain account information, garden records, and conversation history while your account remains open to provide the Services and maintain continuity between sessions. Retention periods for other information depend on its purpose, sensitivity, and applicable legal requirements.

You may delete plants, spaces, and locations through the controls available in the Services. You may also delete individual photographs, download a copy of your information (Account → Export), and close your account (Account → Delete account) through the controls available in the Services. To request deletion of conversation history, or for any other privacy request, contact privacy@molbaks.com.

When you close your account, we delete personal information associated with it from active systems within thirty (30) days, except for information reasonably necessary to comply with legal, tax, or accounting requirements; resolve billing disputes; prevent fraud or address security issues; or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. Copies in routine backups are removed through our normal backup cycle within fourteen (14) days. Information retained for these limited purposes remains subject to appropriate safeguards and is not used to continue personalizing gardening responses after account closure. We may retain aggregated or de-identified information that is no longer reasonably linkable to you for the purposes described in Section 5.

8. DATA LOCATION AND INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Trellis is operated in the United States and is currently offered to U.S. residents. Account information, photographs, and garden records are hosted on Amazon Web Services in the United States. AI providers or other service providers may process information outside the United States, depending on their locations and service configurations. Where information is processed in another country, that country’s privacy laws may differ from those where you reside. We use contractual and other safeguards appropriate to the transfer and comply with applicable legal requirements.

9. YOUR CHOICES AND PRIVACY RIGHTS

Account and Garden Information. You may review and update information through the controls available in Trellis. You may also request access, correction, a copy, or deletion of your personal information by emailing privacy@molbaks.com. We make these request options available to all Trellis users, subject to identity verification, applicable exceptions, and legal retention requirements.

Email Preferences. You may turn off the weekly garden email through your Account settings or the unsubscribe link in the email. We may continue sending necessary account, security, billing, and other service-related notices while you maintain an account.

Rights Under Applicable Law. Depending on where you live and whether the applicable law covers our processing, you may have rights to:

Obtain information about our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information;

Access personal information and obtain a portable copy;

Correct inaccurate information;

Request deletion;

Opt out of sale, targeted advertising, or certain profiling activities;

Limit certain uses of sensitive personal information, where applicable; and

Appeal a denial of a privacy request.

These rights are subject to applicable exceptions and limitations. We will not discriminate against you for exercising rights protected by applicable law.

10. THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Trellis may contain links to independent retailers, websites, or other services. When you visit those websites or interact directly with those providers, their own privacy policies and terms apply. We do not control their privacy practices and encourage you to review their policies before providing personal information.

Service providers that process personal information on our behalf, including hosting, payment, and AI providers, are addressed in Sections 3 and 4. Using those providers does not eliminate our responsibilities under this Policy or applicable law.

Molbak’s separate retail website and store activities are governed by the privacy notices applicable to those activities.

11. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

Trellis is intended for adults age eighteen (18) and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under eighteen.

Please do not submit photographs of identifiable children or other personal information about them through the Services. If you believe a minor has created an account or that we have received personal information about a child, contact privacy@molbaks.com. We will review the matter and take appropriate steps to close any underage account and delete the information, subject to applicable legal requirements.

12. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Policy to reflect changes in the Services, our information practices, or applicable law. The “Last Updated” date identifies the most recent revision.

If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or through the Services before those changes take effect and identify the effective date. Where applicable law requires consent for a new or materially different use or disclosure of personal information, we will obtain that consent before beginning the activity.

13. CONTACT US

If you have questions about this Policy or our privacy practices, or wish to exercise your privacy rights, contact us at:

Molbak’s LLC
4111 E Madison St, Suite 56
Seattle, WA 98112
Email: privacy@molbaks.com

Trellis · Terms · Privacy · Gardening safety · molbaks.com